U.S. Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM) are urging the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to move forward with rulemaking on impaired driving.
The Senators asked Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to use the rulemaking process to implement the Reduced Impaired Driving for Everyone (RIDE) Act. The legislation was part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law pass in November 2021. The senators said it requires impaired driving technologies to be in all new cars after 2026.
“This rulemaking comes at a critical time as America faces a safety crisis on our roadways. The cars on roadways across America are safer today than ever before due to the lifesaving technology NHTSA already requires, from seatbelts to airbags—and this rulemaking is the next step. We cannot let this opportunity go by without taking meaningful steps forward to save lives,” the senators wrote.
In 2023, approximately 12,600 fatal motor vehicle crashes were caused by alcohol impairment. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said U.S. crash deaths involving alcohol-impaired drivers had an economic impact of about $123.3 billion annually.
The lawmakers said public and private investments have resulted in technologies that “are capable of measuring and quantifying driver state and performance.” But the Senators said they wanted to make sure the technologies made it into the cars.
“This innovative technology has the potential to make our roadways safer for all road users by preventing individuals from operating a car while impaired, whether from alcohol, other drugs, or from drowsiness and distraction,” they said. “In continuing to get this rulemaking to the finish line, we urge the Department to work as closely as possible with industry partners who are developing research and technology to ensure the Department has all of the information needed to develop a rule that saves as many lives as possible.”